Making P4 systems cheaper

Sure, Intel is cutting P4 prices down near to AMD pricing levels, but so what? P4 motherboards and RDRAM memory are still expensive, right? The Register reports that some 6-layer Pentium 4 boards are going to drop from US$160+ prices down to around $150. When those boards can be made on a four-layer process, which is planned for introduction at the end of Q2 2001, the prices will go down some more. When they first arrived last year, P4 boards were well over $200. If we see P4 boards in the $120 or less range, as I expect we will this year, the whole platform gets much more attractive. Still, you must consider the price of RDRAM. With such a big push for the P4 and cheaper P4 motherboards coming, can RDRAM production keep up? Maybe, but prices of RDRAM will most probably increase in the short run until more RDRAM production comes online. For now, RDRAM is priced 70% higher than DDR, according to The Inquirer. Intel will have to bring SDRAM/DDR support to the P4 quickly if they want to keep the platform rolling.

+130 CPU+325 512 MB Memory (256 Meg Stix)+ 40 a motherboard of quality+ 25 powersupply——————————————-$520 MORE for the same performance

That's pathetic, no matter what every Intel Emissary sez.

– by GoatGuy

Bummer(11:12am EST Wed Apr 25 2001)I agree, the fact is that intells parts are a higher quality more solid components in some cases, save the RDRAM for most applications, but that high of a price is beyond what a regular customer is willing to pay. – by Eric the RED